Republished with Permission
Author: Bryce Edwards
ECONOMY, COST OF LIVING
Giles Dexter (RNZ): HYEFU preview: Pre-emptive blame game ahead of opening of the books
Brian Easton (Pundit): Foreshadowing HYEFU 2024
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Government reveals whether Nicola Willis will ‘shift goalposts’ on surplus target or ditch multi-year capital allowance, details on 2025 cuts (paywalled)
Luke Malpass (Post): This HYEFU Budget update will not be pretty (paywalled)
Richard Harman (Politik): Luxon’s pre-emptive strike (paywalled)
Esther Taunton (Stuff): Government’s half-year economic update expected to show worsening outlook
Liam Dann (Herald): GDP: ‘Low point’ – new data to confirm New Zealand back in recession (paywalled)
Anan Zaki (RNZ): Economic slowdown expected in GDP figures, but better times ahead
RNZ: Government's financial update expected to show bigger deficits for longer
David Hargreaves (Interest): GDP - backwards once more?
David Hargreaves (Interest): Here comes 2025 - fingers crossed
1News: Fewer than half of families eligible for FamilyBoost get payments
Rob Campbell (Newsroom): Somewhere along the line someone always pays
Esther Taunton (Stuff): What will interest rates do in 2025?
RNZ: Kiwis' economic fortunes set to lift after shaky start to 2025 - Kiwibank
Cameron Smith (Herald): The good and the bad: 2025 will be a ‘year of two halves’ – Kiwibank (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Food prices down slightly in November
David Hargreaves (Interest): Food prices and rentals subdued while air fares take off
1News: Domestic flight prices increase 10.8% in November - Stats NZ
David Hargreaves (Interest): 'Another case of things getting less bad before they get good'
RNZ: Rich-lister, church and anonymous donor save South Auckland's Buttabean food bank - for now
Joseph Los’e (Herald): Dave Letele’s foodbank rescued: 1000 Christmas hampers to be distributed to Kiwi families in need
Amy Williams (RNZ): Auckland foodbanks face closure, reducing services as funding to stop
Lyric Waiwiri-Smith (Spinoff): Auckland City Mission delivers dignity and holiday cheer, but faces funding uncertainty
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Stewart Sowman-Luynd (Spinoff): Councils back on the government’s naughty step
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Roads in, social housing out as Government forces councils ‘back to basics’
Giles Dexter (RNZ): Wellbeing provisions distracting councils from core job - Simeon Brown
Thomas Manch (Post): Government to ‘benchmark’ councils for performance (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): Law change to force councils to focus on the basics (paywalled)
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): Govt wants councils to get back to basics (paywalled)
Kate Green (RNZ): 'We've got a package ready' - Wellington mayor confident council will get over the line
Kate Green (RNZ): Wellington City Council set to lock in long-term plan cuts
Julie Jacobson (Post): Wellington loses over 1600 car parks, millions in revenue in cycle lane roll out (paywalled)
Joel MacManus (Spinoff): Tear down the City to Sea Bridge
Herald: The winners and losers of local politics
Zita Campbell (Local Democracy Reporting): 'Standing next to you': Gisborne council's stance against Treaty Bill
David Hill (Local Democracy Reporting): ECan speaks out against Treaty Principles Bill
Sarah Marcom (Waikato Times): Council pulls no punches in Treaty bill submission (paywalled)
Moana Ellis (Local Democracy Reporting): Whanganui council takes stand against deep seabed mining
Craig Ashworth (Local Democracy Reporting): Money link to Israeli settlements ignites New Plymouth battle
Gregor Thompson (BusinessDesk): Race to develop NZ's 'national stadium' heats up (paywalled)
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): ‘Are you joking?’: Councillor appalled it took a month to learn of rates billing error
Susan Botting (Local Democracy Reporting): Te Tai Tokerau iwi marks 'significant milestone' in council relations
David Hill (Local Democracy Reporting): ECan submissions lost after technical glitch
Emily Ireland (Local Democracy Reporting): Focus on infrastructure highlighted in Carterton council’s annual report
Justin Wong (Post): Hutt City keeps next year’s forecast rate rise at 13.4% (paywalled)
Andrew Ashton (Crux): QLDC councillor: Mayor's Public Forum speech ban 'outrageous'
GOVERNMENT, PARLIAMENT, YEAR IN REVIEW
Chris Trotter (Interest): 2024: A year of dishonouring the past and ignoring the future
Jamie Ensor (Herald): Manurewa marae allegations: Findings secret until next year, matters ‘require referral to other authorities’
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Te Pāti Māori roasts Electoral Commission over Manurewa marae apology
Lillian Hanly (RNZ): Waitangi Day: PM won't confirm if he will attend commemorations at Waitangi
Anna Whyte (Post): Question mark hangs over PM’s Waitangi attendance (paywalled)
RNZ: Māori leaders pen open letter calling on King Charles III to stop coalition's 'attack' on Te Tiriti o Waitangi
Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira (RNZ): Iwi leader 'cuts out middle man' with open letter to King Charles III
The Standard: The real purpose of the Ministry for Regulation
Tracy Withers and Ainsley Thomson (Bloomberg): New Zealand plans ‘golden visa’ changes to lure wealthy migrants
David Harvey: Are You Being Served?
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Te Pāti Māori call for extra security following ‘staged attack’ on Debbie Ngarewa-Packer
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Parliamentary limbo pauses the countdown to Christmas (paywalled)
Steve Braunias (Newsroom): The Secret Diary of .. Xmas songs
Ryan Bridge (Newstalk ZB): Unpacking Labour and the Greens' track record with the vulnerable
Sophie Neville (Woman’s Weekly): Christmas with the Luxons: ‘It always feels magical’
David Farrar: 2024 Kiwiblog Award winners
TRANSPORT
Jenna Lynch (Stuff): Leaked: Government warned operating Aratere Interislander ferry until 2029 ‘simply not possible’
Gordon Campbell (Scoop): On The Latest Round Of Ferry Follies
Herald Editorial: New Rail Minister Winston Peters is never going to be railroaded – especially by journalists (paywalled)
Andrew Gunn: A Farce Of Biblical Proportions (paywalled)
Nick James (RNZ): KiwiRail sells ferry for more than double what it paid for it
Dave Armstrong (Post): To toll or not to toll, that is the question (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Transport Minister Simeon Brown confirms three North Island roads to be tolled, reveals trip costs (paywalled)
Stuff: Government announces tolls for three new roads
Max Frethey (Local Democracy Reporting): 'Such a load of s***' – Speed limit process tests Tasman mayor's patience (paywalled)
Oliver Lewis (BusinessDesk): Drilling for new Waitematā Harbour crossing to start next year (paywalled)
Justin Wong (Post): Safer option or backwards step? Cycle lane debate reignites (paywalled)
Mike Yardley (Press): e-scooters get speed ‘free pass’ (paywalled)
David Hill (Local Democracy Reporting): Flat-fare bus trial extended but price going up
Ripu Bhatia (Stuff): Northland’s Kaitaia Airport to return to local iwi control
PUBLIC SERVICE
Simon Wilson (Herald): Hooray for the Public Servant of the Year (paywalled)
No Right Turn: More public service contempt of parliament
RNZ: Hundreds of MBIE workers begin strike action after 0% pay offer
Anna Whyte (Post): MBIE workers vote for industrial action (paywalled)
David Williams (Newsroom): Conservation staffer fired after tampering with jobs system
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Paula Penfold (Stuff): Who else was on the ‘political tourism’ trip to China?
Anneke Smith (RNZ): Police China trip a classic bid to 'curry favour' - Andrew Little
Keiller MacDuff (RNZ): NZ police officers' China trip had all the hallmarks of foreign interference operation - expert
Sione Tekitek (The Conversation): Superpower rivalry is making Pacific aid a bargaining chip – vulnerable island nations still lose out
Steven Cowan: New Zealand’s own holocaust deniers
Annemarie Quill (Stuff): Son of NZ man left in Bali jail as remaining Bali Nine released wants government to intervene
HOUSING
Moana Ellis (Local Democracy Reporting): 'Significant risk to the public': Homeless given two days to leave Whanganui camping site
Mike Tweed (Whanganui Chronicle): Homelessness: Whanganui District Council closes freedom camping site; residents told to leave
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Good news for renters as landlords 'having to compete harder'
Chris Cessford (RNZ): Mt Victoria apartment building will 'ruin sun and privacy', residents say
Jacob Johnson (1News): 'A sauna without the fun': Calls grow for action on overheating townhouses
Samantha Motion (bay of Plenty Times): Former Tauranga deputy mayor Larry Baldock’s subdivision plan meets opposition from neighbours
CRIME, JUSTICE
Finn Blackwell (RNZ): Homelessness biggest driver of youth crime - advocate
RNZ: Number of youths kept in police cells 10 times higher than two years ago
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): ‘No rehab, no parole’ bill enters lock-up
Layla Bailey-McDowell (RNZ): Dave Letele's kaupapa Māori approach to youth rehabilitation: 'It's good for everyone'
HEALTH
RNZ: Health NZ's IT cutbacks: Faults could 'snowball', report warns
Anna Whyte (Post): Health NZ documents outline major concerns from proposed job cuts
Ruth Hill (RNZ): Immunisation programme faces funding cut, as whooping cough looms
Kathy Spencer (Post): The smoke and mirrors of health funding (paywalled)
Matthew Littlewood (ODT): Concerns med school price tag too low (paywalled)
Boyd Swinburn (Post): Better explanations needed for low-cost school lunch programme (paywalled)
Ruth Hill (RNZ): Mental Health Bill: 'No place for compulsory care' in new law, academic says
Jenna Lynch (Stuff): Rainbow mental health service calls for government to review restrictive funding rules
Public Health Communication Centre Aotearoa: National capacity needed to monitor misinformation to protect public health and social cohesion
Kelvin McDonald (Te Ao Māori News): Trauma injuries: Māori experience highest rates across a decade in health region
ACC
Ella Somers (Interest): ACC levies set to jump
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Electric vehicle owners hit with big increase in ACC levies
NBR: Independent review to look at ACC costs and rehabilitation (paywalled)
EMPLOYMENT, RETIREMENT, BUSINESS
1News: 'Back to the drawing board' for Holidays Act reform — minister
Karyn Scherer (NBR): Government decides to start from scratch with the Holidays Act (paywalled)
Fiona Rotherham (NBR): Change the new constant for employment law (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Wellington loses 11.6 percent of jobs in a year
Frances Chin (Post): How many jobs have actually been lost in Wellington? (paywalled)
Tom Raynel (Herald): Tourism and hospitality get research funding as Holidays Act resets (paywalled)
Ella Somers (Interest): Job ads rise for the first time since July
RNZ: Number of job ads rises for first time in months
Alka Prasad (Post): Vacancies tick up slightly, but competition also getting hotter for jobseekers (paywalled)
Brianna McIlraith (Stuff): The industries with the fastest growing salaries
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Busting the '$1 million-to-retire’ myth
RNZ: Hairdressers say they didn't know some salon rules David Seymour seeks to cut existed at all
1News: Beaurepaires fined for 'deceptive' conduct over extended warranties
Murray Jones (BusinessDesk): Auditing the Auditors: KPMG takes NZX50 market share (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Big gigs, big prices: Stats show impact of dynamic pricing on flight costs
BANKS
Ernie Newman (The Post): Boosting Kiwibank doesn’t cut it for reforming banking (paywalled)
ODT Editorial: Banking on Kiwibank? (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Sunday Star Times): Bad year to be a banker, though the pay packets weren’t half bad (paywalled)
Gareth Vaughan (Interest): Citing 'an obligation of confidence,' Commerce Commission declines to name Chairman John Small's recalcitrant bank
David Farrar: Should Kiwibank be the bank of last resort?
MEDIA, SOCIAL MEDIA
Gavin Ellis: News media’s hellish year, as seen by a cock-eyed optimist
Shayne Currie (Herald): Media Insider: Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill on hold – Government may follow hardline new Australian legislation (paywalled)
RNZ: Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill officially put on hold
1News: Poll: Should NZ restrict social media access for under 16s?
Natasha Hill (Te Ao Māori News): Inside look: Mana newspaper, the first of its kind, continuing a legacy
MARSDEN FUND, EDUCATION
Jamie Morton (Herald): Marsden Fund controversy: Peak science body urges PM to reconsider research funding cuts
Matthew Littlewood (ODT): Changes to govt science funding ‘cut to innovation’ (paywalled)
Joanne Wilkes (Spinoff): What can we learn from Australia’s version of the Marsden Fund furore?
Maioha Panapa (Te Ao Māori News): Marsden fund cuts ‘disappointing, not surprising’, concerns over Māori research impact
Benjamin Schonthal (ODT): Humanities, social sciences, bring in dollars too
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Teachers fear curriculum rewrites will erupt into debates over trans identity, traditional Māori knowledge
Sarah Morcom (Waikato Times): Wintec music and communications courses saved from the chop (paywalled)
ENERGY
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): $115m public loan depends on illusory solar power revenues
NBR: NZGIF chair quits after SolarZero collapse (paywalled)
Krystal Gibbens (RNZ): Power prices: Electricity costs for households, businesses set to climb over next two years
RNZ: Power crisis cost the economy $300 million this year, expert says
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): Contact told windfarm may face 'insurmountable' consenting issues (paywalled)
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): Supplier signed up for $450m Cook Strait cable replacement (paywalled)
ENVIRONMENT, CONSERVATION
Andrea Vance (Post): DOC, MPI acted unlawfully in failing to protect sea life (paywalled)
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): NZ swims against Pacific currents at global climate case
Natalie Netzler (RNZ): NZ can’t keep H5N1 bird flu virus out for ever
KIWISAVER, FINANCE
Ella Somers (Interest): Could we see mergers & acquisitions among KiwiSaver fund providers?
RNZ: Industry supportive of government's planned KiwiSaver changes
Ella Somers (Interest): Government moves to unlock KiwiSaver funds and revamp NZ capital markets
Hamish McNicol (NBR): ‘What’s an outcomes-focused approach?’: FMA guidance delayed (paywalled)
OTHER
Alexander Gillespie (The Conversation): From ‘ghost guns’ to gangs, 5 lessons from Canada for NZ firearms reform
Anaru Eketone (Herald): Invisible privilege: Left-handedness and the myth of equality in New Zealand
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): It happens here: Sex trafficking and slavery in NZ
RNZ: Family violence funding review could see services lose out - critics
Jo Lines-MacKenzie (Waikato Times): Patch ban changing streets for the better, locals say (paywalled)
Marjorie Cook (ODT): Claim fast track Bill caused loss of investment
Dana Johannsen (RNZ): Multiple complaints to Sport Integrity Commission over athlete welfare and conduct concerns within high-performance yachting
Lois Williams (Local Democracy Reporting): Farmers in limbo after ‘stupid’ plan pause: O'Connor
Monique Steele (Local Democracy Reporting): East Coast silt: Hawke's Bay marks milestone with more money for Wairoa, Tai Rāwhiti chugs on
Linda Hall (Local Democracy Reporting): Funding extension brings relief to Wairoa’s recovery efforts
1News: Who is controversial US commentator Candace Owens?
Chris Keall (Herald): Microsoft global exec on Judith Collins’ AI strategy, security turnaround (paywalled)
Jessica C Lai (The Conversation): A new treaty could prevent some misappropriation of Māori and Indigenous design – and shouldn’t be ignored
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